Native advertising, a form of paid media, is an effective type of digital advertising in which the ad experience follows the same form and function of the platform upon which it appears.

This fairly new concept in the digital advertising space has quickly gained popularity and acceptance from audiences across the globe and in all probability is a game changer that will take advertising to the next level. This format is now among the preferred modes of monetisation for social media giants; players in the publishing industry have also been quick in following suit.

An interesting fact is that even traditional advertisers across all brand verticals are adopting native advertising as a part of their communication strategy which means that this ad format is a win-win for all the players in the ecosystem.

Native advertising formats

In-feed native ad units

In-feed native advertising usually delivers branding as a part of the other content on the platform on which it appears. This is largely adopted by publishers such as Facebook, Forbes, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. to seamlessly integrate branded content and present to the target audience

Search and Promoted listings

This type, the paid search ad will be found above the organic search results and behaves just like the organic results. It is measured on conversion metrics such as purchase. It is essential for the native ads in search to match the format and layout of the organic search results.

Content Recommendation Widgets

Here, the paid content is delivered to the audience via widgets. It usually doesn’t mimic the appearance of the content feed platform upon which it appears. The placement of these widgets aren’t clearly defined and may vary based on the publisher’s UI.

Custom Content Units

These are sponsored ad units that convey to its audience branding with customised content based on the advertiser and the publisher platform upon which it appears. Famous sites that allow for this type of advertising include Tumblr, Pandora, and Spotify. For example, advertisers roll out customized and sponsored playlists appear on Pandora.

In-game native ads

In this case the ads seamlessly blend into the game play environment. In this format, the game assets are usually branded or replaced with branded assets. Incorporation of native ads includes replacement of the in-game assets such as power-ups, character apparel, background elements etc. with branded assets.

This format of advertising lets the brand customise their branded experience to a great extent to suit the product/service offering and carries the added advantages of digital advertising which include cost effectiveness, wide audience pool and the ability to precisely target audience based on various factors which may include demographics, psychographics, behavioural targeting. It has far exceeded the expectations of digital marketers and is for sure here to stay.

Here are 6 other benefits of native advertising

They are never intrusive – unlike banner ads that annoy the consumer, here the consumer is conditioned and given the space to consume the content as per his convenience without forcing him with pushy banner ads

The ad displayed in the background is subconsciously consumed by the consumer with zero efforts – no efforts are required from the consumer to consume the content. The context in which the ads are placed allows for easy product/service registration in the minds of consumers.

Native advertising on mobile is the ad format of choice for millennials – In a survey of 300 millennials, 38% said that in-feed native ads make them more likely to purchase the brand featured in the content.

Native ads allow for advertiser content to stand out by blending in – By being placed in the right context, native ads perform better and stand out from low performing banner ads

Native ads provide a win-win opportunity for all players in the mobile ecosystem – advertisers can effectively communicate the brand offering and do not have to worry about annoying their TG; the publishers do not have to worry about losing their user base and the users can enjoy their content with no intrusions.

(Disclaimer: This is a guest post submitted on Techstory by the mentioned authors. All the contents and images in the article have been provided to Techstory by the authors of the article. Techstory is not responsible or liable for any content in this article.)

About The Author:

Nikita, a start-up enthusiast and the marketing Ninja at GreedyGame, is a writer by day and reader by night.

A graduate of Symbiosis International University with a degree in advertising, she is working towards supporting GreedyGame in saving the world from intrusive ads